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Leading Silks

Hugh Sims KCGuildhall Chambers ‘He is very approachable, knowledgeable and always on time! He is charming on his feet and always in control.'

Leading Juniors

Ross FentemEnterprise ChambersRoss’ understanding of legal issues is second to none. What sets him apart from others is his ability to understand how clients operate and, without any judgement, translate that into the management of the claim. Also his attention to detail is outstanding.’
Adam GriffithsQueen Square Chambers ‘Adam is clearly very bright but he is also user-friendly and able to convey advice to clients in a clear and uncomplicated manner.  His advocacy is robust when needed and he is a clear and compelling communicator in court.’ 
William HopkinNew Square ChambersWilliam has an unrivalled eye for detail coupled with excellent client care skills. The level of preparation that William undertakes makes him a formidable advocate. He is always on top of the documentation and demonstrates the ability to think holistically and quickly during mediations and client meetings.’ 
Jay JagasiaGuildhall Chambers ‘Jay is extremely talented. He is also a pleasure to work with and a real team player. His written advice is thorough and clear and his research and analytical skills are brilliant. His advocacy is also excellent, strong but tailored appropriately. He does not have any weaknesses.' 
Charlie Newington-BridgesSt John’s Chambers ‘Charlie is an exceptional and persuasive advocate, with a calm but imposing advocacy style. He also displays a meticulous attention to detail when working on papers and builds easy rapport with clients.' 
James Pearce-SmithSt John’s Chambers ‘He is very user-friendly, knowledgeable, calm, flexible and overall a pleasure to work with.’
Stefan RamelGuildhall ChambersStefan is generally a very likeable person and provides extremely thorough advice and is not afraid to take on a challenge. His advocacy comes from a position of knowledge and preparation which is why his arguments and submissions are particularly potent.' 
Lucy WalkerGuildhall ChambersLucy provides pragmatic and detailed advice, even in relation to extremely complicated emerging areas of law.' 
Alexander Whatley3PBHe is a great advocate and commands a courtroom. He also gives detailed advice and considers all areas of a dispute.' 
James WibberleyGuildhall ChambersJames is insightful and incisive. He turns around exceptionally high quality work extraordinarily quickly.  He is a brilliant strategist and a ruthless advocate - brilliant at exposing the weaknesses in the other side's position and presenting them to judges.'
Richard AscroftGuildhall ChambersHe is very user friendly, experienced and capable. Richard is hard working with a good insight into strategy and commercial points as well as a deep knowledge of law.' 
John DickinsonSt John’s ChambersHe is great with clients and always has a good grasp of details. He is able to marshal information well and is a persuasive and unflappable advocate in court. His accounting background also proves very helpful.'
Natasha DzamehSt John’s Chambers ‘Natasha is a fountain of knowledge. She is very astute and is able to look at complex issues and break them down easily to determine the best strategy to meet a client's needs. Natasha also always provides prompt and clear advice.'
James HannantGuildhall ChambersJames always has a good understanding of the substantive issues of a case. His drafting and cross-examination of witnesses during trial are impressive.'  
Oliver ManleyGuildhall ChambersOliver is thorough, knowledgeable, imaginative, very accessible, personable and gets on very well with clients.'
Matthew O’ReganSt John’s Chambers ‘Matthew is a highly-experienced competition lawyer. As well as being highly knowledgeable, he produces detailed and well-researched written submissions. He also has particularly good commercial awareness. He is a go-to junior barrister and the leading competition barrister not based in London.’ 
Richard Whitehouse3PBRichard boasts a wealth of knowledge both procedurally and in managing and understanding the factual aspects of matters. His standard of service is of the highest possible and his style of advocacy is clear and concise.' 

Rising Stars

John ChurchillGuildhall Chambers ‘John’s exceptional written work is always incredible detailed and polished. He invariably identifies novel arguments to help bolster cases and his advocacy is measured and pithy. Moreover, he is pragmatic and can cut through complex factual scenarios very quickly.' 

Commercial litigation in Regional Bar

Guildhall Chambers


Bristol-based Guildhall Chambers is one of the ‘go-to‘ commercial litigation sets on the Western Circuit. Hugh Sims KC is highly sought after for his expertise - he has recently led Jay Jagasia, with ‘unparalleled knowledge of financial services and banking law‘ and Lucy Walker, with ‘sound technical expertise‘, in the high-profile case of Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc, concerning the liability under the Quincecare duty of the paying bank in respect of authorised push payment fraud. Richard Ashcroft’s broad practice includes claims involving misrepresentation and breaches of warranty, the supply of defective goods and services, and the enforcement of post-sale restrictive covenants. James Hannant tends to handle commercial work arising out of insolvency proceedings, while ‘great all-rounderStefan Ramel has a strong reputation for acting in cross-border proceedings and recently acted for the claimant in BW Legal Services v Glassdoor, who sought Norwich Pharmacal orders in respect of two anonymous reviews posted on the eponymous employer review site.

Testimonials

‘Joe Stayte is responsive and very commercial in resourcing suitable counsel and is an all round excellent clerk.’

‘Joe Stayte and Stephen Arnold are always available to take calls and answer any queries and are both upfront on availability and fees. They will always try to offer a solution.’

‘Guildhall is a go to chambers and has been for in excess of 20 years for commercial disputes work. Their clerks are responsive and very helpful. Their members are very bright team players who are good with clients and advise clearly and in appropriate language are also demonstrably strong advocates.’ 

Guildhall continually offers a solid choice of user friendly and capable barristers.’

‘Guildhall is an excellent chambers and the clerks will always find counsel to help.’

‘Guildhall Chambers is the “go to” chambers for financial services- and banking-related commercial litigation.’

‘The clerks are always excellent, responsive and willing to assist in any way they can.’





St John's Chambers


St John’s Chambers’ ‘excellent‘ commercial team offers its expertise to both businesses and individuals in relation to a wide range of disputes. John Dickinsondeals with difficult cases with ease’, including those involving local authority procurement claims, breaches of contract, restraint of trade, and fraud. In Capital Green Recycling v Bird, James Pearce-Smith represented the defendants in a significant claim for damages for misrepresentation and breach of warranty, brought by the overseas purchaser of shares in a waste recycling company. Matthew O’Regan specialises in competition disputes, while Charlie Newington-Bridges regularly displays a ‘superb mastery of company-commercial disputes‘, focusing on shareholder and partnership disputes, commercial contract disputes, claims relation to directors, and financial litigation. He recently acted for the first respondent in the High Court case of Duneau v Klimt Invest SA, which concerned the winding up of a listed company on the just and equitable ground of loss of substratum. Natasha Dzameh is a ‘confident advocate‘ who represents a wide range of clients, including financial institutions, international corporations, and individuals.

Testimonials

‘Simon Lyons is very helpful and prompt.’ 

‘The clerks are commercial, practical and most importantly, quick. In particular, Simon Lyons, who is extremely helpful, Paul Nuttall, who is very efficient, and Rob Bocock who runs the team, are excellent. The clerks team at St Johns makes it easy to use this set.’ 

‘The clerks are extremely responsive, knowledgeable and commercial in their approach. Simon Lyons in particular stands out. He develops relationships with instructing solicitors and endeavours to understand matters in order to assist in the progression of the instruction.’ 

‘The go to set in the South West in terms of strength in depth at a junior level.’

‘Good strength in depth.’ 

‘A very strong set which could easily match London counsel.’ 

Work highlights